Container sealer adjusting means



July 12, 1932. L FE US N CONTAINER SEALER ADJUSTING MEANS Filed April 14, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 July 12, 1932. 1 FERGUSON 1,866,885

CONTAINER SEALER ADJUSTING MEANS Filed April 14, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 All- VII

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Patented July 12, 1932- UNITED STATES PATENT? ornoa I'm L. FERGUSON, OI J'OLIET, IILINOIB, ASSIGNOB T J; L. FERGUSON COMPANY, 01! J'OLIET, ILLINOIS, A. CORPORATION 01' ILLINOIS comma smnnn 'Applioation and A ril 14 My invention relates to adjustable supporting devices, and more particularly to means for adjustably supporting, in spaced relation, the component assembled units of A com aratively long conveyors or other mec anisms commonly used for conveying and sealing containers. 1

In these conveyors or container sealers, it is desirable to handle containers of various dimensions in the same machine. Container sealers usually include vertically-s aced and horizontally-disposed conveyor elts, or other conveying devices between which' the containers are moved, the upper belt maintaining a suitable pressure on the freshly glued container flaps to hold the latter in positive contact with the container and accelerate the drying of the adhesive. Other devices, such as folding and gluing mecha- Q0 nisms, are often supported in parallel relation with a conveyor, and heretofore it has been necessary manually to adjust and to secure in adjusted position each of the various supporting members. My invention ll overcomes the above and other objections and provides a structure whereby the cooperating conveyors or mechanisms may be securely and adjustably held in accurate, spaced relation, and quickly and easily adjusted to any desired parallel spaced relation without disturbing the parallel alignment.

The present device also provides a plurality of vertically-adjustable supporting columns, adjustable simultaneously from a sinle controlling means, the adjusting means being arranged to hold the parts securely'in adjusted position. Furthermore, the un sightly and space consuming posts, which have heretofore projected above container sealers, have been eliminated.

Another desirable feature is the provision of adjustable supporting units for mechanisms similar to those previously mentioned, whereby any desired number of units may be used for supporting and adjusting mechanisms of any desired dimensions. A seetional controllin means allows any necess spacing of t e units.

- e convenience and adaptability of the ADJUSTING MEANS 1980. Serial No. 444,821.

present device has increased production considerably, as a single operator ma conveniently and quicklyadjust the mac ine during its operation to handle any desired size of container.

Further objects and advantages will be apparent from the specifications and the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of an embodiment of my invention as applied to the conve ors of. a container sealer;

ig. 2 is a transverse sectional view on a line corresponding to line 22 of Figure 1;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section through one of the supporting columns and taken substantially on line 3-3 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view through the columns and adjusting mechanism, and taken on a line corresponding to line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the

embodiment shown includes a plurality of spaced supporting units 1, each unit comprising a transversely-disposed base 2 and a pair of oppositel -disposed supporting columns 3 and 4. T e columns -3 and 4 comprise upwardly extending tubular members secured to the base 2, and are provided at their upper ends with inwardly extending brackets 5 and 6, respectively.

Side bars 7 are secured to the brackets 5 and 6, and pulleys 8 and 9 are mounted thereon for supporting and driving a lower conveyor belt 10, the belt extending over suitable idlers 11 and 12. Rollers 13 are mounted on the side bars and support the conveyor belt during the passage of containers thereon.

A pressure conveyor unit, indicated generally as 14, is supported above and in parallel relation to the conveyor belt 10, and comprises a belt 15 supported on pulleys 16 and 17, which latter are mounted on side bars 18. The side bars 18 are supported by inwardly extending brackets 19 secured to telescoping racks 20, the latter being telescopically mounted in the tubular members 3 and provided with rack teeth 21. Pressure rollers 22 are mounted on the side bars 18 for retaining the pressure engagement of the belt 15 a ainst the freshly glued flaps of containers w 'le they are being conveyed thereunder. Each unit 1 includes a transverse pinion shaft 23 mounted in bearings 5 and 6 on the brackets 5 and 6, respectively, pinion teeth 24 being cut therein and in a position to mesh with the racks 21.

It will be understood that when the shaft 23 is rotated the racks 20 will be raised or lowered according to the direction of rotation, and if all of the units are operated simultaneously the pressure conveyor unit 14; will be raised or lowered accordingly,.and will, at all times, be held in accurate parallel alignment with the conveyor belt 10.

In order to operate all of the units simultaneously and to hold them securely in adjusted position, worm gears 25 are secured to the shafts 23 and in mesh with suitable worms 26, the latter being secured to stub shafts 27, which latter are mounted in bearings 28 on the brackets 5.

The stub shafts 27 are secured together by removable rods 29 secured thereto by suitable couplings 30, and in the present instance an extension rod 31 is secured to one of the stub shafts and mounted in a bracket 32 on the side bar 7, and a removable crank handle 33 is used for rotating all of the worms 26 simultaneously. When the handle 33 is operated all of the worms will be rotated in the same direction, and the pressure conveyor unit 14 may be accurately adjusted to any desired height through the operation of the worm gears 25, the shafts 23 having the pinion teeth 24 thereon, and the racks 20. The device will be securely held in any adjusted position by the worm and gear engagement.

The removable rods 29 may be of any desired length, or difierent lengths may be used in the same machine, so that any desired number of spacing of the supporting units 1 may be obtained. The handle 33 may be connected to one of the stub shafts, if desired, or may be operated from any position con venient for the operator, by attaching any desired length of extension rod 31 at either end of the machine.

It will be noted that all of the supporting units are interchangeable and that the construction just described provides great flexibility in the construction of machines of the character described and in the operation thereof.

While but a single embodiment of this invention is herein shown and described, it is to be understood that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention and I desire, therefore, to be limited only by the prior art and the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a device of the character described, a conveyor for moving containers, means for supporting said conveyor comprising tubular columns, means telescopicall mounted in said columns, means supported bay said telescoping means and in parallel alignment with said conveyor for cooperation with said containers, and means for adjusting the relative position of said last means and comprising a transverse shaft for cooperating with a plurality of said columns, racks on said telescopic means, inions on said shaft cooperating with said rac s, and means comprising a worm and gear for driving said shaft and for holding said parts in ad usted position.

2. A base column for container handling machines, comprising a tubular member supporting an operative part of said machine, a rack telescopically mounted in said tubular member and supporting a cooperative part of said machine, andmeans for adjusting said telescopic member comprising a transverse shaft supported on said tubular member and having pinion teeth thereon engaging said rack, a gear on said shaft, a manually operable shaft mounted on said tubular member, and a worm on said last named shaft and engaging said gear.

3. A sectional supporting structure comprising a plurality of interchangeable units, each unit comprising a base, a pair of 0ppositely disposed columns on said base, means for securing said columns to a machine element, telescopic members mounted in said columns and including means for securing a cooperative machine element thereto, a transverse shaft supported on said columns, a rack and pinion cooperating between said shaft and each of said telescopic members, and means for driving said shaft comprising a gear thereon and a manually operable worm on one of said columns.

4. A sectional supporting structure comprising a plurality of interchangeable units, each unit comprising a base, a pair of oppositely disposed columns on said base, means for securing said columns to a machine element, telescopic members mounted in said columns and including means for securing a cooperative machine element thereto, a transverse shaft supported on said columns, a rack and pinion cooperating between said shaft and each of said telescopic members, means for driving said shaft comprising a gear thereon, a Worm cooperating with said gear, and means for manually operating all of said worms simultaneously.

5. An adjustable supporting device for container handling machines, comprising a plurality of spaced interchangeable units, each unit comprising a base, spaced columns supported on said base, telescoping sections cooperating with said columns, an operating part of said machine supported on said columns, a cooperating part of said machine supported on said telescoping sections and means for telescopically adjusting all of said units simultaneously and retaining the alignment of said cooperating parts.

5 6. Adjustable supplorting units for container handling mac 'nes, comprising lower supporting posts for an element of said mach1ne,u per supporting posts for another element 0 said machine, said upper and lower posts bein nested together and relatively,

and movab e means to adjust the relative position'of said elements while retaining their alignment.

7 Adjustable sup orting units \for container handling machines, comprising lower posts for su porting an element of said ma chine, mova le upper posts supporting another element of said machine and nested in said lower osts and means cooperating with said posts ibr adjusting the relative position of sald elements while retaining their alignment.

8. An adjustable alignment retaining and machine supporting device, comprising a plurality of lower posts for supporting a part of said machine, a plurality of upper posts for supporting another part of said machine and nested in said lower posts, and means coo erative therewith and therebetween' for a justing the relative position of said parts and retaining their relative alignment.

9. In a container sealer the combination with a-plurality of transverse base members, of spaced tubular guide members supported in said base members, brackets on the upper ends of said guide members and having guide holes therethrough in alignment with said tubular guides, longitudinal side bars on said brackets, a conve or mounted on said side bars, transverse s afts having bearing supports in said brackets, a worm wheel on one end of each shaft, worms on said brackets and cooperating with said worm wheels, a shaft connecting all of said worms and ro- 45 tatable to turn all of said shafts simultaneously, cylindrical posts in said tubular members, and having rack teeth arranged to be engaged by pinion teeth on said shaft, brackets on the upper ends of said posts, longitudinal 0 side bars on said brackets and a conveyor on said side bars and in parallelspaced alignment with said first conveyor, the upper conveyors being arranged for aligned ad ustment with said lower conveyor b rotation of 55 said worm shaft, the base members and adjustable means providing the entire support for said conveyors.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name. JOHN L. FERGUSON.

CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION.

Patent No. 1,866,885. July 12, 1932.

JOHN L. FERGUSON.

it is-hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 2, line 43, for "of" first occurrence read or; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 6th day of September, A. D. 1932.

M. J. Moore, (Seal) Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

